Vertical type gun rack



June 26, 1956 w. G. LEVY VERTICAL TYPE GUN RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 2, 1953 Inventor,

June 26, 1956 w. G. LEVY VERTICAL TYPE GUN RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1953 Inventor; William Levy, @f QMM A,

United States Patent O VERTICAL TYPE GUN RACK William G. Levy, North Conway, N. H.

Application March 2, 1953, Serial No. 339,760

9 Claims. (Cl. 211-4) lThis invention relates to a gun rack for holding one or more rijles or shotguns or the like vertically arranged in side-by-side relation and pertains more specifically to such a rack provided with improved means for locking the guns in the rack against unauthorized removal.

One object of this invention is to provide a rack for holding and displaying guns in side-by-side vertical arrangement with substantially their full extent exposed to View, the rack including a transverse locking bar and elements cooperating therewith for preventing removal of the guns.

Another object is to provide a gun rack for holding and displaying guns in vertical side-by-side relation provided with a transverse locking bar and elements cooperating therewith for preventing removal of the guns and including concealed locking means for holding the locking bar in place.

A further obiect is to provide a rack for displaying Shotguns, rijles and the like in side-by-side generally vertical position with a transverse 'locking bar extending across the rack in front of the guns, the locking bar being laterally slidable when unlocked to permit ready removal of the guns, but cooperating, when locked, with a slotted transverse stock support behind the guns for preventing the removal of the latter from the rack.

My previous Patent No. 2,623,639 issued December 30, 1952, shows a gun rack for holding one or more guns in vertical position, but the construction thereof is such that the portion of the gun stock near the butt is concealed from View, which is undesirable in certain cases. Furthermore, the locking of that rack is accomplished by two overlying slotted members, one of which is free to slide forwardly and rearwardly in order to lengthen or shorten the aperture formed by the two overlying slots. ln racks of that construction it is desirable and usually necessary to employ several slots of varying sizes so as to accommodate guns having stocks of varying dimensions. In placing a gun in such a rack it ,is necessary to select the opening of the desired width for each gun, the guns with the larger stocks being placed in the openings formed by the wider slots.

ln the rack of the present invention substantially the entire length of the gun, from muzzle to butt, is fully eX- posed to view and the rack is capable of accommodating guns of a wide range of sizes without the necessity for careful selection of a particular position in the rack. Nevertheless, the locking arrangement is simple and eective and the rack will keep the sportsmans guns safe from removal by unauthorized persons.

The invention is featured by the provision of a novel gun rack adapted to hold several guns in vertical, generally parallel, spaced, side-hy-side relation and embodying a new and improved locking arrangement which takes advantage of the flaring of the gun stocks to secure the weapons against unauthorized removal from the rack. My new rack includes a base for the guns to rest upon and a pair of spaced opposed upright frame members extending from opposite ends of the base and having opposed apertures therein and means for holding the guns not only against lateral movement but also against twisting in either direction about their major axis. At the top of the rack there is a rest for the upper ends of the guns, which may take the form of an apertured or slotted transverse frame member mounted between the tops of the uprights, The means for preventing lateral movement or twisting of the guns preferably takes the form of a transverse stationary locking member positioned at the rear of the rack and slotted to receive and hold a portion of each gun stock at a location between the receiver of the gun and its butt. Thus the edges of the slot engage a narrowed portion of the stock, the stock aring outwardly therefrom toward the butt. The opposing apertures in the two-side uprights, aforesaid, are also located at a level between the gun receiver and the butt, and preferably generally at the same level as said stationary locking member and are fitted with a transverse locking bar which is held by the apertures against the forwardly facing sides of the gun stocks. The distance between the base of each slot in the stationary locking member and the opposing surface of the locking bar is suflicient to accommodate the corresponding portion of the stock of the gun to be held therein, but, as already indicated, such distance is nevertheless somewhat less thna the dimensions of the stock at a location nearer the gun butt. Hence, so long as the locking bar is in place no gun can be removed because the enlarged portion of the stock, toward the butt, will wedge between the bar and the surface of the slot. The stock-engaging lateral surfaces of each slot embrace the gun stock held therein to prevent lateral movement or twisting thereof which might defeat the locking arrangement. The locking bar is laterally slidable in the apertures, which may or may not pierce completely through the uprights, to and from a rst position, locking the guns, as aforesaid, against removal from the rack, and to and from another position in which it releases the frontwardly facing portions of the guns to permit their removal from the rack. Locking means are provided for holding the locking bar in its iirst (i. e. locked) position. The locking means preferably takes the form of a bolt movable in or behind one of the upright frame members and concealed thereby and coacting with a locking surface suitably formed in the locking bar, as for example by a transversely opening socket therein. ln one preferred form of the invention the bolt is operated by a cam arrangement actuated by movement of a drawer mounted beneath the gun-supporting base member and between the uprights and in another preferred form of the bolt may be operated by a key received through a key hole in the portion of the upright which conceals the bolt.

Still further advantages, features and objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings disclosing preferred embodiments thereof in which like numerals refer to like parts in the several views and in which- Fig. l is a view in side elevation of one embodiment of my rack showing a gun locked in position therein;

Fig. 2 is a view taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the lower portion of my rack showing a slightly modilied construction, with portions broken away and in section to show details of the locking mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away and in section, of the lower portion of another embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 7 is another view in side elevation of a portion of the embodiment of Fig. 6.

' 11Vof the guns so that the guns stand upright in generally parallel side-by-side relation.V The base member is mounted between a pair Yof upright frame members 12,712 which face each other andare provided with a pair of opposing apertures 13, 13a. Slidably mounted for endwise motion in these apertures 13, 13a is a locking bar 14 which extends transversely across and above the base fr@ forwardly of the position occupied by the guns. A stock supporting member 15 is disposed above the base rearwardly of the guns and is provided with projecting portions 16, 1f; at its forward edge defining grooves or slots: 15a, 16a which'serve to hold the lower portions of the stocksbetween the receivers and the butts of the guns against lateral movement and against twisting. The stock 'support 15 cooperates with the bar 14, when the latter is installed7 to secure the guns against removal from the rack in a manner hereinafter more fully described. The projections 16 may be formed merely by grooving the forward edge of the support member 15 or, if desired, dowel pins .17, 17 may be set into the forward edge of support member 15, as shown in Fig.V 5, with or without additional grooving of the piece 15.

My racl: also preferably includes a muzzle holding member 2@ which extends transversely between the upright frame members 12, 12 near the upper end thereof. This upper transverse member is preferably provided with a series of slots 21 (only Vone of which is indicated by a dotted line in Fig. l) through which the barrels of the guns may protrude. Each slot 21 is located directly above a corresponding groove 16a in the member 15. If desired, the slots 21 may take the form of open-faced apertures similar to the construction of support member 15, since, according to the invention, they need not form a part of the gun locking arrangement.

In all forms of the invention the bar 14 and the grooved support 15 should be spaced a sufficient distance above the base member 1t? and likewise so spaced with respect to each other that they will cooperate with each other to prevent upward withdrawal therebetween of the enlarged or flared portion of the stock, extending below them toward the butt, of any gun held in the rack. Thus it becomes immaterial whether the openings 21 for the gun muzzles open to the front or constitute apertures through the upper transverse member 26.

The loci-Ling mechanism for holding the locking bar 14 in place includes a bolt-receiving socket 23 extending transverselyy into the bar 14 near one end, as shown in Fig. 2. A bolt 24 is slidably mounted for vertical movement within and concealed by one of the upright frame members 12 into and out of locking engagement with socket 23. A drawer 25 is mounted beneath the base 10 between the upright frame members 12, 12 and is provided with a downwardly and rearward sloping slot 26 in the cuter side of one side rail 25a.` A cam follower pin 2? secured to the bolt 24 extends through a slot 28 in the inner face of the upright frame member 12 and seats in the drawer slot 26 whose edges accordingly form cam surfaces controlling the operation of the bolt 24. A conventional lock 29 is provided for locking the drawer in closedv position. The drawer may be conveniently used to store revolvers, ammunition, etc.

When the locking bar 14 is in place and the drawer is in closed position, as shown in Fig. 4, the guns cannot be removed from the rack because the clearance between the bar 14 and stock supporting surfaces of the member 15 is less than the maximum width in a fore and aft direction of gun butt 11 and furthermore the guns cannot be turned or twisted to evade such locking engagement. To release the guns the drawer is opened, but need not be removed, as shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the bolt 24 is drawn downwardly by pin 27 riding in the cam slot 2 6, As soon as the bolt 24 is completely withdrawn from the socket 23, the bar 14 may be slid endwise to the left,

'as viewed in Fig. 2. The sliding movement of the bar Y' 14 may be continued until it is completely or almost completelyv withdrawn through the aperture 13, thus leaving the guns free for removal or, if desired, the bar may be slid to the left only enough to permit its other end to be withdrawn from aperture 13a, whereupon the end 1S of the bar may be swung forwardly until it clears the right hand upright frame member 12j, then the bar may be slid to the right until it is completely removed from aperture 13 and is thus free from the rack. The aperture 13 is most Vconveniently formed, as shown, piercing completely through the upright`12, but it will be evident that it need be only in the form of a socket of a depth sufricient to permitV endwise movement of the bar 14, after unlocking, to the left (as viewed in Fig. 2), so that the right hand end of the bar will release from the socket 15o. It is of course a matter of choice whether the locking ,mechanism be located in theright hand or left hand upright. K

In another embodiment of my invention, as shown inFig. 6, I have eliminated thedrawer and substituted therefor a locking arrangement including a bolt 34B having reduced end portions 31, 31 mounted for` sliding movement transversely of the bar 14 within the left hand upright frame member 12. A compression coil spring 32 seats over one of the reduced end portionsV 31 of the bolt 39 and serves to urge the bolt member toward socket 23 in the bar 14. A circumferential slot 33.is provided in the bolt 30 into which the bit of a key 34 may be iitted through keyhole 35 in the outer face of upright frame member 12. As shown in this embodiment, locking bar 14 need not be precisely at the same level as support member 15, but might be at any convenient distance above or below it, and this same principle applies to the location of the bar 14 in the other embodiments of the invention. l

To remove the guns from thisl form of my novel rack, the key 34 is inserted and turned in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, withdrawing bolt 30 from a socket 23 against the spring 32 whereupon bar 14 may be removed as described above. Release of the key 34 permits the bolt 3d to return to normal locked position. One or both ends of the bar 14 may optionally be beveled to permit insertion thereof into the aperture 13 without need to use a key for locking the rack.

Although I have herein disclosed specificl embodiments of my invention, I do not intend to limit myself solely thereto but to include all of the obvious variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. By way of example, in some cases it may be desirable to hold the guns ,with their muzzles down to prevent accumulation of dust and dirt inthe barrels. In. such cases, it is evident that by slightly modifying the construction of my novel rack, it maybe adapted to hold the fire arms inverted with muzzles resting on the base, held by a locking bar nearer the top of the rack. Nevertheless the bar cooperates with the slotted stock-holding Vmeans for preventing removal of the guns from the rack employing the same principle and mode of operation as before.

I claim:

1. A rack for holding guns in side-by-side upstanding relation, said rack comprising a base for supporting the butts of said guns, a pair of spaced opposing upright members extending from the sides of said base and having a pair of opposing apertures therein, a transverse upper member opposing said base in spaced relation thereto and having atleast one aperture therein for receiving the barrels of said guns, a second transverse member intermediate saidbase and upper member Yhaving a plurality of pairs of spaced forwardly extending projections for receivingY said guns therebetween, the projections 0f each pair being spaced apart by an amount slightly greater than the narrow thickness of the stocks of the guns to hold them againS,t lateral twisting movement, a transverse locking bar disposed between said base and upper members forwardly of and in substantially the same horizontal plane as said second transverse member and said projections and being positioned closely adjacent the ends of said projections, said projections, said second transverse member and said locking bar defining a space having a smaller dimension than me butt end of the gun stock, said locking bar having its ends slidably received in said apertures in said upright frame members and being laterally slidable to and from a first position in which said guns are locked against removal from said rack and a second position in which said guns are removable from said rack, and means slidable in at least one of said upright members for locking said bar in said rst position.

2. A rack as dened in claim 1 wherein said locking bar is provided with a socket, and said slidable means for locking said bar includes a locking member mounted for movement into and out of engagement with said socket, and means for holding said member in said engaged position.

3. A rack as deiined in claim l wherein said locking bar is provided with a socket, and said slidable means for locking said bar includes a bolt mounted for sliding movement transversely of said bar into and out of engagement with said socket, and means for holding said bolt in engaged position.

4. A rack as defined in claim 3 wherein said holding means comprises a cam in engagement with said bolt.

5. A rack as dened in claim 3 wherein said holding means comprises a spring engaging said bolt.

6. A rack for holding guns in opstanding generally parallel side-by-side relation, said rack comprising a base for supporting the butts of said guns, a pair of spaced opposed upright frame members extending from the sides of said base and having a pair of opposing apertures therein, a transverse upper frame member having portions receiving the barrels of said guns, a second transverse member between said upper frame member and said base and provided with frontwardly directed slotted openings for holding the gun stocks against twisting or lateral movement, a transverse locking bar spaced above said base forwardly of said second transverse member, said bar having its ends slidably received in the apertures in said upright frame members and being laterally slidable to and from a rst position in which it cooperates with said second trtansverse member to lock said guns against upward and forward removal from said rack and a second position in which it permits removal of said guns from said rack, one end of said locking bar being provided with a socket, and a bolt movably mounted within the lower portion of said rack and concealed by one of said upright frame members from one position in locking engagement with said socket to another position withdrawn from said socket, said bolt being provided with a cam follower surface, said rack including a movable cam engaging said surface for operating said bolt.

7. A rack as defined in claim 6 in which said rack is provided with a frontwardly opening drawer beneath said base and said cam is formed by a downwardly and rearwardly sloping surface formed in one of the side rails of said drawer.

8. A rack as defined in claim 1 wherein said means includes a bolt slidable in said upright member and a spring urging said bolt into locking engagement with said bar, said bolt being provided with a groove adapted to receive a key operable to withdraw said bolt from its locking engagement with said bar.

9. A rack for holding guns in upstanding generally parallel side-by-side relation, said rack comprising a base for supporting the butts of said guns, a pair of spaced opposed upright frame members extending from the sides of said base and having a pair of opposing apertures therein, a transverse upper frame member having at least one opening therein for receiving the barrels of said guns, a second transverse member between said upper frame member and said base and provided with rontwardly directed slotted openings for holding the gun stocks against twisting or lateral movement, a transverse locking bar spaced above said base forwardly of said second transverse member, said bar having its ends slidably received in the apertures in said upright frame members and being laterally slidable to and from a first position in which it cooperates with said second transverse member to lock said guns against upward and forward removal from said rack and a second position in which it permits removal of said guns from said rack, a frontwardly opening drawer mounted between said upright members and below said base, one of said upright members being provided with a concealed bolt-receiving recess adjacent a side rail of said drawer and opening into said bar receiving aperture, and a bolt slidably held in said recess, one end of said bar being provided with a socket located when said bar is in said first position to receive said bolt when the latter is in locked position for securing said bar in said apertures, said side rail having a downwardly and rearwardly sloping cam surface, and said bolt being provided with a cam follower engaging said cam surface for withdrawing said bolt from said socket when said drawer is opened and for inserting said bolt in said socket when said drawer is closed.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,951,255 Parker Mar. 13, 1934 2,070,904 Jennings Feb. 16, 1937 2,251,271 Del Campo Aug. 5, 1941 2,593,402 Aitchison et al Apr. 22, 1652 2,616,566 Levy Nov. 4, 1952 2,623,639 Levy Dec. 30, 1952 2,710,100 Vermillion June 7, 1955 

